Rumors suggest that Cell may make an appearance in the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie.
Speculation about the iconic Dragon Ball Z villain's return began after the release of the latest issue of V-Jump, the Shonen Jump spinoff magazine where Dragon Ball Super is serialized. The magazine reportedly teased that there is still one more "major character" who will appear in the movie, who has yet to be revealed. The movie's new villains, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, have been confirmed to be androids created by the Red Ribbon Army, so some fans thought this tease could refer to the animated debut of Android 21, a new character that was designed by series creator Akira Toriyama for the Dragon Ball FighterZ video game. Other fans are convinced that the big character reveal will be Cell, the ultimate android from an alternate timeline, who was ultimately defeated by Gohan in DBZ. A few eagle-eyed fans think they can see part of Cell's leg in a screenshot that was posted in the magazine, though the image is somewhat unclear and is by no means definitive proof.
Context: a "big" character still needs to be revealed. The image below is from this month's V-Jump and it's featuring DBS:SH characters in the SDBHGame. The only enemy seen in this picture is Cell (below Goku's foot). This may imply that the unrevealed character is actually Cell. pic.twitter.com/g8LmblSWia
— Breh (@IssaBreh) February 17, 2022
The mere possibility of Cell's return has stirred up a mixed reaction throughout the Dragon Ball community: some are eager to see the iconic villain return and are curious about how he would stack up against an adult Gohan, who has grown significantly stronger since the Cell saga concluded. Other fans have responded negatively to the rumors, with some stating that they wish the series would move on to new material and see the villain's possible resurrection as a retread of an old story. The speculation and debate about surrounding the android's potential return was enough to get "Cell" trending worldwide on Twitter for a few hours on Feb. 17.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is set to debut in Japan on April 22. The film features a brand new, CG-animated visual style and is set several years after the events of Dragon Ball Super: Broly. The movie will focus on Piccolo and Gohan, and will also feature Gohan's daughter Pan, who is now grade school-aged and has begun her martial arts training.
Dragon Ball series producer Akio Iyoku also recently teased that there may be more animated entries in the franchise in 2022 beyond the new movie. As with the Cell rumors, fans have already been speculating about what this tease could mean, with many hoping that this could potentially mean the return of the Dragon Ball Super anime series. The sequel series' TV anime adaptation concluded its broadcast run in 2018, and the manga has since published plenty of material that has yet to receive an animated adaptation.
Source: Twitter
